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This is my first post so excuse me if this has been covered. My daughter is
three and has had what appears to be an extremely tender stomach since birth.
She spit up constantly since day one and has always had very loose stools.
These have become diaharea-like for extended periods and because of this she
has been tested (negatively) for giardia four times. Finally I pushed her
doctor a bit harder for some other diagnosis and began searching the web for
other causes which is how I found you all and the wealth of information
offered here. We took her off gluten in September at the suggestion of the GP
after a blood test (not the most sensitive test, apparently) came back half
positive and half negative. We couldn't schedule a visit with the GI doc
until this month. Her poops got much firmer without the gluten, the dark
circles under her eyes disappeared and she generally didn't have such a big
belly. We had our visit with the GI doc last week who said to put her back on
wheat we'll do a biopsy in a month. I am reluctant to put her to sleep at her
age for the biopsy and asked if there was a more sensitive blood test. There
apparently is and we will do that first. However, the GI doctor also said
they have no idea how long it takes for the intestine to be damaged after you
reintroduce wheat. FYI I am not a celiac and there is no history in my
family. My husband was diagnosed as allergic to everything, including wheat,
as a child but supposedly outgrew all his allergies and eats everything now.
I guess he could be celiac with no symptoms - if is this possible. So my
questions about my daughter are:

Does anyone have any anecdotal evidence as to how long we should stay on
wheat in order to redamage the intestine enough to get an accurate biopsy and
accurate blood test?

Also, is there such a thing as an allergy to wheat (not celiac) that
manifests itself with the symptoms above that she may outgrow?

Third, what does it feel like if you eat wheat? Do you get a stomach ache?
Always, sometimes?

I will summarize any results I get.

Thanks Alot
Tina
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Oakland, CA